Asia tour- events and random stuff

Yesterday, players and staff was not only concentrated on training but also participated in some events.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic made time for a question and answer session with Korean fans organized by Nike. Read more here (click)


Leo Messi participated in Herbalife event. A group of 50 underprivileged children, aged between 8 and 14, who are supported by ChildFund and Sangro kwon as part of the Casa Herbalife programme, had the chance to put their questions to the current holder of the Golden Ball. There were questions of all kinds, from what is the secret of his game, if he’s ever thought of giving up football and what they have to do to be like him. (go to full article here-click) Josep Maria Bartomeu, the Club’s sporting vice-president, also took part in the even.


Andoni Zubizarreta (FC Barcelona director of football), spoke at a conference organized by the K-League to explain the guiding principles of Barça’s hugely successful youth policy.(more here-click)


Pep spoke with press after morning session (higlights here- click)


Most important part was about Leo. Guardiola suprised the K-League representatives when he announced that Messi “will not play, in principle, because he is not in a condition to compete. It’s not that he’s tired. That was resolved last night. He has only had one training session and is at risk of being injured. He has come back with one or two kilos extra. I would want him to be in form [before competing].” The Barcelona coach added, “One training session after a month of vacation is not sufficient. If there is anyone who likes to play, it’s Leo, but we would run the risk of him being injured.” Pep does not want any risk with Messi, even though Barcelona will have to re-compensate the South Koreans to the amount of 200,000 Euros if he does not play at least 30 minutes. Later there was a meeting in Seoul between representatives of FC Barcelona and the promoters of the tour to consider the participation of Leo Messi in Wednesday’s match. And official FCB reported:
"Given the progress made by the player in the last training session and the fact that the squad will have another session before the match, the coaches decided that the Argentine forward will be able to play a few minutes." The article does not say if he must still play the 30 minutes to avoid the fine.